Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is
one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy
God with all thine heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
These reflections may seem out of date already as John Paul II has been dead and buried 4 months now. However, as I have only recently started blogging, I appreciate the opportunity to share my views to a wider audience.
Considering the fact that I am Italian, born-again Christian and living in Italy, I have an advantage in insight to what goes on here.
Beppe Severgnini in his book “La Testa degli Italiani (the Italian Mind) - Are you ready for the Italian jungle? ” makes some interesting comments towards the end of the book when describing Italians and religion.
“Let’s put it this way: why huge crowds besieged Saint Peter’s- first to say goodbye to John Paul II, then to welcome Benedict XVI- and the Italian churches are emptying? Enthusiasm for the Pope contrasts with the difficulties experienced by many parishes, that on Sundays resemble the Confraternity of the Gray Hairs: the youngest is 40 years old and is often there to accompany the daughter to the children’s mass. The torrid participation seen in Rome seems distant to the tepid habits of many catholics : nine out of ten Italians declare themselves believers, but the weekly attendance to the mass is declining : one out of three in 1985, one out of four today.”
Severgnini goes on and says:
“Those interested may not respond. Or they could say: one can love the Pope and not go to church. Objection: John Paul II had a “rock star quality “as they say in America, but he did not compromise on certain things. Sunday Mass for him was not an optional but an obligation.”
This is the crux of the matter. Italians especially, and I suspect, many catholics worldwide were enraptured or enamored with a person rather that with the Lord. As with Israel of old who clamoured for a visible king they want now a visible leader. The fact that John Paul II had a certain charisma, reinforced this.
Every Sunday, the national TV channels would show the Pope at Saint Peter’s Square giving his weekly benediction. Thousand upon thousands would be there. But not in church.
What really struck me and many of my saved brethren, was the unbelievable crowd that was present at his funeral. We were shocked to see this outpouring of worship and adoration towards a mere human being. The millions of Euro spent both by the Vatican and the city of Rome to host the visitors frustrated us, because this money, in part, comes from the forced religious tax imposed on Italian taxpayers. (A separate blog -Otto per mille- will deal with this).
All this for someone who had dedicated his whole life to Maria, “the mother of Jesus”. I put it in quotation marks because we Italian born-again believers do not believe that the Maria he worshipped is truly the mother of our Lord, but a repackaged pagan goddess. His coffin had a big “M” under the cross and the wording “totus tuus” - Latin for “all yours”.
But there were two things that really struck me, and it was as if the Lord had opened my mind to understand a bit more of the end times and the Book of Revelation.
The first was how one man could, at his funeral, gather heads of state from almost every country on earth and bring religious leaders from totally different religions together. This suddenly made me understand that it will definitely be possible for one man, in the end times to do this. It was so real, being here and watching the scene played out live, like the Israeli delegation shaking hands with the Iranian delegation.
The second was the absence of any representation from Russia and China. This had such a profound prophetic significance for me. Gog and Magog and the Kings of the East, spoken of by Ezekiel and John in Revelation. We now read that these two countries are holding joint military manouevres!
My heart goes out to our Jewish friends. May the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob grant you grace to understand the times and turn with teshuva to Yeshua Hamashiac, before Jacob’s troubles. We are living in exciting times and we encourage each other with the glorious hope of the return of Yeshua.
Grace and shalom
Battistuzzi Hebrew Worldview Italian Culture Papacy
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